Wednesday, January 11, 2012

A
day after admitting that no clear threat existed during the Black
Nazarene feast procession and that the government was merely exercising
precaution on a possible terror attack, Malacaang yesterday said it is
not lifting a full security alert level on Metro Manila along with
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin insisting on a terror plot that he
described as not an ordinary threat and which security forces have very
reliable information on it.

He claimed the group behind the
alleged terror plot disappeared after President Aquino made the
announcement and blew the lid on the plot..... MORE

House prosecutors may just find their charges against Supreme Court Chief Justice collapsing, one by one.
Even
before the impeachment trial formally commences, the House prosecutors
have already lost round one of the battle after the Commission on Audit
(CoA) cleared Chief Justice Renato Corona from any wrongdoing in the
controversial Judiciary Development Fund (JDF) which is one of the
charges in the impeachment complaint lodged against the CJ.

In its
audit findings on the manner by which the high court spent the 2010 JDF
collection, CoA belied claims by 188 complainant-congressmen that
Corona had prevented state auditors from examining the way the JDF was
disbursed..... MORE

01/11/2012
The Department of Labor and
Employment (DoLE) yesterday reported that more than 400 overseas
Filipino workers have arrived in Libya after the government partially
lifted the employment ban in that country last November, increasing the
OFWs’ population in Libya to 3,000.

The general situation in Libya has improved, but cautioned OFWs to mind
their safety because of intermittent skirmishes and the presence of
armed robbers who steal cars and other valuables, Labor Secretary
Rosalinda Baldoz said..... MORE

By Pat C. Santos 01/11/2012
Rationing of
fuel supply in the country will happen if the ongoing tension in the
Middle East, particularly in Iran, results in the closure of the Strait
of Hormuz which serves as a major passageway for oil tankers, according
to the Department of Energy (DoE).

Iran’s threat of a blockade on
the strait alone has already caused major concerns in the international
oil market and was the chief cause of the jump in prices during the
first week of 2012.

“Oil prices rose higher in the first trading
week of 2012 driven by heightened concerns over Iran’s threat to close
the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway where one-sixth of the
world’s oil pass daily, should economic sanctions limit, or cut off,
Iranian Oil exports,” the DoE’s latest oil monitoring report said..... MORE

01/11/2012
Vice President Jejomar Binay
has reiterated his call for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to go
through the proper and legal channels in seeking employment abroad.

A
report from Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT)-NAIA Task
Force Against Trafficking in Persons said 521 passengers were not
allowed to leave the country in 2011 because of spurious travel
documents.

“I appeal to our kababayans to go through the required
process in seeking employment abroad,” Binay said. “And if you do manage
to leave the country, there is a very high risk that government will
not be able to extend immediate assistance, especially in times of
need,” he added..... MORE

01/11/2012
The increasing number of Black Nazarene devotees is a sign of worsening poverty.

This
was the statement issued by militant urban poor group Kadamay after the
Black Nazarene procession recorded a high number of participants this
year despite threats of terror.

“This dramatic increase only
signifies the increasing number of poor Filipinos who wish for relief in
one way or another from their daily suffering,” said Gloria Arellano,
Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) national secretary-general..... MORE